When More Leads to Less: Greater Attentional Bias For Emotional Information Is Negatively Associated With Self-Reported Feelings

Daniel Fernandes, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Bart de Langhe, University of Colorado, USAStefano Puntoni, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

We show that individuals who display greater attentional bias to emotional information—and hence experience emotional stimuli as more intense—report to be affected less by emotional stimuli on standard emotional rating scales. This negative correlation stems from an automatic reaction to emotional scale anchors.